Fashion has played a unique and significant role in story telling and no more so than in the narrative of fairy tales. The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in collaboration with curator Colleen Hill explores the role of fashion in fairy tales using Bonaveri mannequins from the Schäppi 2200 Collection.

Fashion has played a unique and significant role in story telling and no more so than in the narrative of fairy tales.

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Written by Ian Thompson | 29 February 2016

The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in collaboration with curator Colleen Hill explores the role of fashion in fairy tales using Bonaveri mannequins from the Schäppi 2200 Collection.

15 classic fairy tales by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen are included in the exhibition. DK Display, our North American Representative, worked with the exhibition organisers to deliver classic Schläppi 2200 and custom designed Schläppi petite mannequins for the display. The results are spectacular with the Schäppi mannequins and pieces from the museums fashion collection creating an aura of intrigue, delight and fantasy.

Fashion forms an integral part of the narrative of fairy tales by setting scenes, developing the characters and presenting the personalities throughout the stories. Who would argue that Cinderella’s glass slippers, Dorothy’s ruby red shoes and Red Riding Hood’s cloak are not an integral part of each of these stories? Curator Colleen Hill includes many contemporary garments from the FITs permanent collection breaking a tradition of fairy tale fantasy and bringing the stories up to date.

Colleen Hill points out that many of the stories explored in the exhibition relate to the manner in which characters are able to transform themselves through fashion. By simply swapping rags to ball gowns, Cinderella is able to transform from a one character to another and no more so is this evident in the way mannequins are able to come alive through fashion.